SIOUX FALLS – For the fifth time in six seasons, the University of Sioux Falls Women's Tennis Team (7-8, 6-5 NSIC) has earned a berth in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Championships, which will be held at Lifetime Fitness in Minnetonka, Minn., on April 13-14.

The Cougars, which were picked fifth in the NSIC preseason coaches poll, finished in a tie at 6-5 for sixth place in the NSIC with Bemidji State (8-6, 6-5 NSIC) but earned the No. 6 seed due to a 4-1 win over the Beavers. The Cougars, directed by veteran head coach Kevin Grebin, will match up with No. 3 seed Winona State (9-7, 8-3 NSIC) in the eight-team single elimination tournament. The quarterfinal matches will be held on Saturday (April 13) with the semifinals and finals set for Sunday (April 14). USF will face WSU at 11:30 a.m., on Saturday (April 13).

No. 2 seed MSU Moorhead (14-3, 10-1 NSIC) will face seventh seeded Bemidji State at 9 a.m. while No. 4 seed  Minnesota Duluth (11-4, 8-3 NSIC) will battle No. 5 seed U-Mary (13-4, 7-4 NSIC) at 4:30 p.m., also on April 13  All match start times are subject to change if matches run long. The semifinal matches will be held at 8 a.m. on Sunday, April 14 with the championship set for noon.

The winner of the USF-Winona State matchup will face the winner of the MSU-Moorhead/Bemidji State matchup.  Earlier this year (Feb. 22 in Winona, Minn.), USF, which has won four of its past six league matches, dropped a 5-2 decision to WSU. The UMD-UMary victor will face No. 1 seed and regular season champion Augustana (16-2, 11-0 NSIC).

The NCAA Central Region is comprised of the 29 teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (12), Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) (10), and the Great American Conference (GAC) (7). The post season tournament winner from each conference receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament on May 13-14 and will be joined by the next three highest ranked teams in the final rankings. Two teams from each of the eight regions will advance to the final site, which will be played May 22-25 at Sanlando Park in Altamonte Springs, Florida.  The NCAA women's tennis selections will be announced on Tuesday, May 7 at www.NCAA.com.